Defending champion Murray finished strongly

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - World No. 1 superstar Novak Djokovic was a straight-set second-round winner Friday at the U.S. Open. The 2011 U.S. Open champion handled German Benjamin Becker 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 51 minutes at Ashe Stadium on the hardcourts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The six-time Grand Slam titlist Djokovic was last years runner-up to Andy Murray and also lost in finals here in 2007 and 2010. Defending champion Murray finished strongly and beat 81st-ranked Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the U.S. Opens third round. After dropping the third set, then opening the fourth 1-all, the No. 3-seeded Murray powered his way to the last five games on Friday. Its his 26th consecutive victory in a second-round Grand Slam match. Murrays last loss at that stage came in his U.S. Open debut in 2005. Last year in New York, Murray became the first British man since 1936 to win a major tournament, snapping an 0-4 mark in Grand Slam finals. He added a second major trophy at Wimbledon last month. Mayer is 0-12 against top 10 opponents. Djokovic is the reigning Australian Open champ and was last months runner-up to Murray at Wimbledon. His third-round opponent will be unheralded Portuguese Joao Sousa. Lleyton Hewitt pulled off a shock five-set victory over Juan Martin del Potro. Hewitt won 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 in a second-round match between two former U.S. Open champions which lasted four hours. The 32-year-old Australian won the U.S. Open in 2001, and Wimbledon in 2002, but has been troubled by nagging injuries more recently and is now ranked 66th. Hewitt displayed his trademark scrambling on the baseline to stretch for passing winners against the sixth-seeded Argentine. Hewitt next faces 102nd-ranked Evgeny Donskoy. Fifth-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych fired 11 aces in dismissing game American Denis Kudla 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. The formidable Czech will battle seeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau in his next outing. Meanwhile, resurgent 12th-seeded 35-year-old German Tommy Haas took care of Taiwans Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). The one-time world No. 2 Haas is a three-time quarterfinalist in Flushing. In other second-round action involving seeds, No. 21 Russian Mikhail Youzhny mauled Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 and a No. 31 Benneteau topped fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. The 31-year-old Youzhny is a two-time U.S. Open semifinalist (2006, 2010) and will meet Haas in the round of 32. Also on Friday, the aforementioned Sousa outlasted Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, Spaniard Marcel Granollers held off American Rajeev Ram 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, and Uzbekistans Denis Istomin drubbed German Tobias Kamke 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 at the final Grand Slam event of the year. Cheap Air Max Plus China . Last years runner-up, Sara Errani, also reached the last eight in straight sets. Flipkens converted all four of her break points against Meusburger, and the third-seeded Errani broke Karin Knapps serve five times to win their all-Italian match 6-4, 6-3. Cheap Air Max Plus . The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are giving it a try, too. http://www.clearanceairmaxplus.com/. "Youre next." Hardly. Iguodala tormented his former team with a game better than any he ever played in eight seasons with the 76ers. Cheap Air Max Plus Wholesale . -- Novak Djokovic benefited from an erroneous call and claimed he didnt realize he had broken the rules. Wholesale Air Max Plus China . -- Conor Casey scored two goals, his first of the season, as the Philadelphia Union beat Chivas USA 3-0 on Saturday night.BOSTON -- New York Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova has decided to have season-ending Tommy John surgery for a partially torn elbow ligament. The operation is scheduled for next Tuesday by Dr. James Andrews. "I think its the right decision," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before Thursday nights game against the Boston Red Sox. "I havent really seen anyone rehab a partially torn ligament and have success. And it seems what it does is (it) just delays the inevitable thats going to happen and instead of maybe missing a year and a little bit of time, you miss a couple of years." Nova left last Saturdays 16-1 loss at Tampa Bay in the fifth inning after allowing eight runs aand eight hits, including four homers.dddddddddddd An MRI revealed the injury and he was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He was transferred Thursday to the 60-day DL. "Obviously its difficult to go through the operation and rehab," Girardi said, "but a lot of times you come back stronger." In four games this year, Nova was 2-2 with an 8.27 ERA. Now in his fifth major league season, all with the Yankees, he is 40-22 with a 4.20 ERA. In other moves Thursday, the Yankees promoted right-hand pitchers Bruce Billings and Shane Greene from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and optioned infielder Dean Anna and right-hand pitcher Preston Claiborne to the Triple-A team. ' ' '